I Am Change-ing

Karen recently presented at a local Gippsland event, Sparkle Gippsland Q+A Panel (visit instagram @sparkle.gippsland for next event details)

Queenagers: Saying Goodbye to Estrogen, Not to Yourself

Menopause is often described as decline.

I believe it's an awakening.

In this powerful keynote presentation from SPARKLE Gippsland, I explore what really happens when estrogen begins to decline and why so many women experience brain fog, emotional overwhelm, anxiety, memory changes, and shifts in identity during midlife.

You'll discover:

✓ The neuroscience behind menopause

✓ How estrogen influences mood, memory, motivation, and executive function

✓ Why nervous system regulation becomes essential during midlife

✓ The connection between cortisol, stress, and menopausal symptoms

✓ How menopause creates an opportunity to heal your younger self

✓ Why I believe every woman deserves the title Queenager

This episode is a celebration of the wisdom, resilience, and authenticity that emerge when women stop fighting change and start embracing who they are becoming.

Because menopause isn't the end of your power.

It's the beginning of your reign.

The Moment You Realise Something Has to Shift | Hormones, Identity & Resilience.

What if the discomfort you feel… is actually your life trying to realign you?

What if feeling lost… is actually a sign you’re evolving?

In this deeply reflective episode of I Am Change-ing Podcast, we explore the powerful, often uncomfortable experience of stepping into the liminal space — the in-between phase where your old identity is dissolving and your new self hasn’t fully arrived.

In a world of rapid technological change, global uncertainty, and emotional overwhelm, many of us are asking:

• Who am I now?
• Where am I going?
• Why do I feel so disconnected?

As a practitioner working with the nervous system, trauma awareness, and emotional healing, I’m seeing a growing pattern — people aren’t broken… they’re in transition.

✨ This episode will help you understand:

• What the liminal space really is (psychological + spiritual meaning)
• Why you feel disoriented, stuck, or uncertain

• How your nervous system responds to change and identity shifts

• Signs you’re going through a spiritual awakening or life transition

• How to move from fear → trust during uncertain times

This isn’t about “fixing” yourself.
This is about recognising that your system is reorganising for your next becoming.

If you’ve been feeling lost, disconnected, or like your old life no longer fits — this conversation will meet you exactly where you are.

Want more of me? Here's my social links!

You can hold it all together… and still feel like you’re falling apart.That’s why gatherings matter.Not for small talk.

But for real talk.

For laughter that turns into tears.

For stories that remind you — you’re not alone.Your nervous system doesn’t heal in isolation.

In my latest blog "Is Alignment The New Coaching Tip?" I share my reflections of 2025 and what I've learnt.

I talk about my post cancer experience and how menopausal women must release the rigidity of fixed routines and lean into the toolbox on a daily basis.

I'm left in a beautiful place where I ask myself , “What do I need right now/today?” and then allow the answer(s) or action(s) to arise.

In this episode, I share ten tips to remain calm + embrace the season.Christmas celebrations in Western culture have become a seasonal marathon, rather than a single eventful day. It’s time to do your warm up, and stretches.Not everyone has fond memories of the season and it’s a massive trigger for anxiety, overwhelm and panic. I’m witnessing stress seeping through the cracks of people everywhere. If you’re nodding your head, that your own internal furnace has started to warm, then you’re not alone. I often remind my audience that modern Christmas has become a season of events. You need to warm up and figure out ways to pace yourself.There are ‘breakup’ parties for everything from work, to kids sport, the school year and family gatherings. Why are you breaking your neck to try and fit in gatherings with people whom you don’t spend quality time with throughout the year? Why is so much emphasis placed on the tradition of the season, when no other ritual is honoured? When you research the actual intended meaning of Christmas, it was intended to be a celebration of life. This infers a single gift experience, rather than filling the boot of your car or maxing out the credit card.If you’re already in overwhelm from hearing ‘Jingle Bells’ playing in the shopping plaza, then here are my simple tips to help you embrace the Christmas season and stay calm!Want more of me? Here's my social links!

I Feel Like I've Tried Everything - Is this statement the biggest miss?

Whenever I hear a client tell me that they perceive they “have tried everything”, I know they’ve missed the most obvious thing.

In fact, I wish I had a dollar for every single time I heard this phrase about someone on their healing journey.

Clients often boast of the list of things they’ve done to resolve their issue.

They’ve set goals, created vision boards, put reminders in their phones, changed their routines, sampled every single diet known to mankind, taken expensive supplements and tried various therapies.

Their lists are expansive and exhaustive.After twenty years of running a therapeutic space, I have one thing that my clients haven’t tried — reviewing their perception of themselves.

Your self-image is critical to any change process.

So often, we look outside of ourselves to problem-solve something that is actually an internal issue.

Your thoughts, feelings, and subsequent behaviours come from within you — these emotional aspects are a part of you.You can’t cut that part out of you, nor can you stop it by pushing a button, taking a tablet or drinking a potion.

You can however, learn to accept and hopefully love these emotional parts of yourself.I ask clients (who have ‘tried everything’), what their worst perception is of themselves — I am treated with a stunned look or blank face.

Sometimes I wish I had a camera to capture their reaction, because it’s so dramatic.If the person is brave enough, they will admit their negative self-beliefs.

These deep and dark confessions sound like –* not good enough* hopeless* unworthy. It’s word vomit like this that dissolved your positive foundation. I use the metaphor “think of your body as a house”.

When you have strong positive beliefs, the foundation of your house is solid and grounded. But when you experience thoughts and feelings that are negative, you’ve got termites.

Negative self-beliefs eat away at your confidence —using the metaphor, negativity destabilises your walls and roof, letting in the outside weather.

Imagine looking at a termite-infested house, with rotting walls and holes in the roof.

Go on, imagine that right now.Imagine trying to relax or get warm during a storm, with the rain and wind gusting through all those holes. Imagine how uncomfortable you’d become.

This is what happens to your body when your belief in self becomes negative.

When you continue with negative self-beliefs you erode your inner world-

• your outlook on life
• your willingness
• your motivation
• your boundaries (especially with how you allow others to treat you)
• how you show up to the world

To stabilise your emotional foundations, I use a combination of modalities and tools to support my clients in defusing the negative emotional energy associated with their lowered self-belief.

In this  episode I have the great pleasure of introducing you to the incredible Kathy Lummis from The Essential Armoury.

Kathy is a physiotherapist (also qualified as a sportsscientist) with a passion for empowering clients in their wellness journey. Her business is The Essential Armoury.

Kathy is a qualified physio since 2007, and she has worked in hospitals, aged care, community rehabilitation, and in private practice. She also recently started delivering Sports Trainer Course for Sports Medicine Australia.

Kathy was inspired from wanting to cover off the essentials in health and wellness, many of which are overlooked (sleep, diet, pelvic health, time to commit to doing exercise  program and juggle the balance of life) and wanting to give people tools / armour to reach for so that they have an arsenal of things to dip in to over and over again, not just while they’re in a session with her.

Given her family’s extensive Defence background, Kathy feels particularly passionate about supporting our serving defence members and veteran community as well as their incredible family support network.

Kathy is also the owner of incredible multiple purpose The Hive Holistic Healing Centre.

I’m your podcast host Kaz Humphries aka the @changechick. The ‘I am Change-ing’ Podcast is a reminder thatwe can all choose to change and bloom from within. I hope you enjoy this episode.

Want more of me? Here's my social links!

TRIGGER WARNING - this episode contains explicit language!

Additionally please be advised that there are references are made to a recent news bulletin associated with sexual abuse within a child care center.

This is an incredibly special episode of the I Am Change-ing Podcast whereby I was privileged to speak with my first male guest speaker, James Curwood.

In the latest episode of the I Am Change-ing Podcast, I talkwith the incredible guest speaker, Simone Miller from Soul Nurturing.

I love working within a dynamic community, talking about allthings mental health and introducing you to new and exciting practitioners and colleagues.

Simone shares a similar work experience to myself and is aqualified Registered nurse, kinesiologist, KaHuna massage therapist, and previous workplace health and safety manager.

She operates her business Soul Nurturing and is the authorof Melting Moments.

Simone is brilliant, and I think you’ll love her too.

I hope you enjoy this episode whereby we explore the definition of a melting moment.

We talk about what happens when you get stuck in your head, and how easily you can simply take a breath and enter your heart.

Want more of me?

In this episode 56, I talk with the incredible guest speaker,Sam from Sammy Lee Fitness.

I love working within a dynamic community, talking about allthings mental health and introducing you to new and exciting practitioners and colleagues.

Sammy Lee Fitness is brilliant, and I think you’ll love her too.

We talk about all the things associated with the importanceof moving your body for mental health.

Recognising a shift in your mental health is just as important as implementing regular self care.

Sam discusses how you can feel empowered when you create meaningful change just by including movement or workouts into your regular routine.

In fact Sam touches on how she first started at the gym, toshift baby weight, but stayed because the mental health benefits have been so incredible.

Nowadays, Sam loves being of service to her community,running 1:1 coaching/training as well as challenges and boot camps for groups.

Check out Sam in the show notes below.

Want more of me?

In her latest blog, Karen shares four reasons why we should be Your Own Cheerleader and why accountability matters.

Happy New Year gorgeous!

In her latest blog, Karen shares introduces colouring as an accountability tool to stay on track with your annual intention and goals.

In this very special episode I’m sharing something very exciting and NEW. It’s the entire freebie episode to my online Calm Retreat (self paced learning program).

Why?

Because sometimes our humanness feels a little hard and heavy. Experiencing cancer taught me many things, one of which is to connect with the real self and fill your vessel with love.

Over the last twenty years or working in my clinical practice, I have found that my clients struggled to implement lasting changes, and were relying on me to give them the answers with little or no personal responsibility.

I would have clients’ coming back time and time again (which is great for business but not so great for my clients) but they would struggle to maintain willingness, motivation and responsibility for managing their own issues.

They would forget to do their homework and to follow through with the work at home.

A lot of the time my clients would tell me one of two things – "I don’t have the time" or "sitting down with tech is hard".

 I have always said to my clients, “I will set you up for success here in this session but what you do at home on an everyday basis will ensure that this success continues way past this hour we have together”.

This is the first reason I continue to offer this particular episode free, and now via my public podcast. The entire Calm Retreat audios are now located within the private podcast entitled Change Container.

With two decades of life experience, I’ve learnt that I have a wealth of practical tools which, when I use them regularly, support me in a non-conventional way to remain grounded, centered, focused, balanced and protected.

For the most part, I’m learning that podcast sharing these tools is very useful for you my gorgeous audience.

So sit back and enjoy this extended episode, the CALM Retreat Teaser, which goes for an hour.

Episode Show Notes

I don’t know about you, but Life over the last couple of years has thrown us some curve balls that have left many with an arm full of big emotions.

For many this has generated feelings of overwhelm, out of control, worry, frustration and even anger.

These aren’t just thoughts that swirl around inside our mind, they are also feelings that we experience and store within our bodies.

Have you been feeling inexplicably tired or fatigued lately?

Have you been unwell and just don’t seem to be bouncing back like you normally do?

When was the last time you actually felt normal? Relaxed? Calm?

Hands up if you’re feelings centre alarm just sounded!

Ready to take control of your calm? If you’re answer to that is yes, I’m excited to announce that I have launched a private podcast that contains all of the audio recordings of the CALM Retreat.

In her latest blog Karen shares a technique to support you getting a good night’s sleep and Scientifically Soothing Your Way To Zen!

As a practicing Change Facilitator, I adore exploring new tips and tricks for combating mental and physical stress.

When you don't address that unresolved stress, you store it in your body systems, which can disturb your sleep. And we all know that we need quality sleep to focus, concentrate, emotionally regulate, and function as socially acceptable adults.

Have you heard of cognitive shuffle?? 

Cognitive Shuffle is, therefore, a mental strategy to distract your busy mind, and can be utilized to quickly facilitate initial sleep onset, or subsequent sleep onset after early wakening from sleep. 

The technique works exceptionally well when your head is filled at night with thoughts from the day you create a type of mental stress.

This overthinking causes you to toss and turn and remain alert rather than relax.

Enjoy this episode as yet another strategy for introducing well being and mindfulness into your life!

In her latest blog, Karen shares a fabulous tool to break the habit of unwanted negative self talk.

Karen see clients within her therapeutic clinic who admit their perception of self is misguided. They tell her they feel lost, ungrounded and disassociated. They are not centred physically, mentally or emotionally.

Throughout the therapy session, Karen guides the client to unpack the reasons for those words. They retell their stories. They retrace the steps leading to this place on the road of life. It often starts with not believing or backing yourself. It can start with something as simple as your language to describe yourself.

Your brain automatically defaults to a negative outlook. Listen to the episode for why this happens!

In her latest blog, Karen shares how Christmas celebrations in western culture have become a seasonal marathon, rather than a single eventful day. It’s time to do your warm up, and stretches.

Not everyone has fond memories of the season and it’s a massive trigger for anxiety, overwhelm and panic. I’m witnessing stress seeping through the cracks of people everywhere. 

If you’re nodding your head, that your own internal furnace has started to warm, then you’re not alone. I often remind my audience that modern Christmas has become a season of events. You need to warm up and figure out ways to pace yourself.

There are ‘breakup’ parties for everything from work, to kids sport, the school year and family gatherings.

Why are you breaking your neck to try and fit in gatherings with people whom you don’t spend quality time with throughout the year?

Why is so much emphasis placed on the tradition of the season, when no other ritual is honoured? 

When you research the actual intended meaning of Christmas, it was intended to be a celebration of life. This infers a single gift experience, rather than filling the boot of your car or maxing out the credit card.

If you’re already in overwhelm from hearing ‘Jingle Bells’ playing in the shopping plaza, then here are my simple tips to help you embrace the Christmas season and stay calm!

In her latest blog, Karen shares six questions to boost your Emotional Intelligence!

There's a common theme when clients first come to see me - they have lost connection to their emotional (over) reaction. They report feeling trapped within their subsequent survival behaviours.

With a little reflection, clients can quickly gain insight into the intensity of their avoided emotional reactions.

Through gentle exploration of what pushes you in the feelings department, an individual can grow their emotional intelligence to improve the way they live their life.

According to PositivePsychology.com, "We all have days when emotions get the better of us. Passion can cloud our judgment, fear can tyrannize our decisions, and resentment can lead us to do things we regret." 

Someone who has Emotional Intelligence (EI) can therefore be defined as having an ability to discern what they are feeling and expressing, and appropriately regulate that emotional response to effectively navigate themselves through life experiences.

Wants to deep dive into the feels bucket?

In my latest blog "Change Your Mis-Perception Of The Outside World", I share 5 Coaching Questions To Ask Yourself Daily To Transform Your Life.

Here's a snippet from the blog-

When clients first walk through my door, my first question is always something along the lines of “What brings you here today?”. The answer lately has been very consistent — “I’m feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or stuck”.

During a therapeutic session, we unpack the root cause of those big feelings, and we wrap up with big sighs of relief. Clients are frequently prescribed homework interventions with the view of creating new positive infused habits.

Do you experience panic attacks, anxiety or overwhelm?

Do you struggle to stay focused when trying to kick start study or homework or even a large to-do list?

Enjoy this latest podcast episode sharing a technique to combat overwhelm and bring you back into a calm clear state. You really can choose to change and bloom from within. Want more of me? Here's my social links!

I was recently inspired by a poem written by Thich Nhat Hanh. The poem is entitled "I Shall Say That I Want It All" .

I've included it below so you can read it as a whole.

I've shared snippets of stories with clients, over and over, to allow them to gain a deeper understanding of a metaphor and how it may relate to their situation. I hope you enjoy this episode. "I shall say that I want it all. If you ask me how much I want, I shall tell you that I want it all. You and I and everyone are flowing this morning Into the marvelous stream of oneness. Small pieces of imagination we are, We have come a long way to find ourselves, And for ourselves in the dark, The illusion of emancipation. This morning my brother is back from his long adventure. He kneels before the altar and his eyes are filled with tears. His soul is looking for a shore to put an anchor, My own image of long ago. Let him kneel there and weep, Let him cry his heart out. Let him have his refuge for a thousand years. Enough to dry all his tears. Because one of these nights I shall come. I have to come and set fire to this small cottage of his on a hill. His last shelter. My fire will destroy, Destroy everything. Taking away from him the only life raft he has, after a shipwreck. In the utmost anguish of his soul, The shell will break. The light of the burning hut will witness, gloriously, his deliverance. I will wait for him beside the burning cottage, Tears will run down my cheeks. I shall be there to contemplate his new existence, And hold his hands in mine, And ask him how much he would want. He will smile at me and say that he wants it all. Just as I did."

Want more of me? Here's my social links!

Hey there beautiful joy seeker. Welcome to the “I am Change-ing” podcast. I’m your host Karen Humphries and I’m a Change Facilitator. My business is Blooming From Within and I’m a multi modality practitioner. I hold qualifications in the following traditional western sciences of Industrial chemistry, environmental science. I'm a HSEQR Auditor and trained detective. I run my own multi modality therapeutic clinic and hold qualifications in the following- advanced kinesiology, counselling, psychotherapy, wellness coaching, intuitive meditation , clinical resource therapy, clinical hypnotherapy, LEAP, NES, TBM, Reiki and Australian Bush Flower Essences. I’m also a published author of "This is My Roar" - https://www.karenhumphries.net.au/roar/

I get asked a lot of questions about how I work. Enjoy this brief description of my work experience and how these skills may benefit you!

Want more of me? Here's my social links!

In my latest blog, New Doesn't Last, when learning something new, not familiar, but completely new, do you remain confident? Or does the anxiety kick in when you didn’t understand the first sentence uttered by the educator?

There are occasions when I learn something completely new, I struggle — not because of the teaching style but because there is too much ‘new’ all at once — I go into overwhelm.

The reality is most people experience this, and it’s normal.

For others, when learning something new, the confidence meter can take a hit early on in the learning process. When the confidence is lowered, the motivation to learn isn’t high — and this is where people then begin to emotionally dysregulate.

When we feel like our buttons are being pushed, the feelings can be very big. This triggers our flight-fight response, and we activate our subliminal survival program.

When in survival, we don’t create detailed memories of what we are meant to be learning, but we do remember how those big feelings felt. Awful. Overwhelming.

Remembering those big feelings reactivates the survival program, and it’s at this time you create the foundation for anxiety if the big emotions aren’t expressed or sorted out.

When working clinically, I find myself reminding clients of the following tips to combat “NEW” fatigue. That’s simply something I made up, but when I see it over and over, frankly it’s worth calling it a thing!

Continue listening for the 5 ways to slay learning overwhelm.

In the last two months, I've had more than 10 youth clients tell me (and their parents) that they want to take their own life.

This episode comes with a trigger warning and attempts to start the conversation of teen suicide prevention.

This is the beginning of a conversation with my audience, and is not intended to replace trusted professional medical or psychiatric advice. This is intended as a starting point for open dialogue about this topic, especially as parents navigate the journey with their children. It can be extraordinarily stressful for everyone involved.

Drop me a line about your experience, or the next part of the conversation we can have.... Kids Helpline - 1800 55 1800

Parentline Australia Parentline offers free telephone counselling services to parents and carers all around Australia. In some states, Parentline may also offer face-to-face counselling, webchat, parenting courses, and provide resources for positive wellbeing for families. Parentline ACT: 02 6287 3833 9 am-5 pm, Monday to Friday (except public holidays)

Parent Line NSW: 1300 1300 52 9 am-9 pm, Monday to Friday; 4 pm-9 pm, weekends

Parentline Queensland and Northern Territory: 1300 30 1300 8 am-10 pm, 7 days

Parent Helpline South Australia: 1300 364 100 24 hours, 7 days

Parentline Tasmania: 1300 808 178 24 hours, 7 days

Parentline Victoria: 13 22 89 8 am-12 am, 7 days (including public holidays)

Ngala Parenting Line (WA): 08 9368 9368 (metro) / 1800 111 546 (regional) 8am-8pm, 7 days Want more of me?

This episode contains hypnotic suggestion. I strongly advise you don't listen to this episode when driving or operating heavy machinary!

In the last six months I've observed 100s of clients expressing their distress at experiencing 'big feelings'.

The phenomena of big feelings is often exacerbated at the changing of seasons. This is especially the case as we migrate into winter - the season of hibernation.

The season of winter gifts us the opportunity to reflect, reassess and explore. Of course if you haven't managed to address those feelings they begin to compact and leave an impression.

These unresolved emotions can leave such a dent that you can sometimes feel this energy in your body. It's not comfortable, and often we will do anything to avoid it.If you're feeling like it's time to address those 'big feelings' or have children experiencing big feelings, listen to this podcast episode for some ideas of how to address the that untamed beast.

Want more of me?

Self-Care Or Self Absorbed?
Do you know when it is time to nurture yourself?

With Mother’s Day around the corner, I find myself sitting peacefully and quietly, thinking of two things-

• I think of my own mother who departed her earth-bound existence nearly a decade ago. My memories with her are fond and I often draw upon those experiences in my own parenting.
• I think of how I mother myself. By this I mean how well I nurture and care for myself — for this is not taught in school and certainly isn’t openly discussed in Western culture.

Sure, there is a societal discussion about which self-care is all the rage within pop culture. However, when you’re in the throes of stress, the knowledge of where exactly to turn for guidance is substantially lacking.

The Best Method To Focus At Work

As a self-employed fempreneur, I regularly get asked “How do you get it all done?”

The answer is easy and complicated — I do one thing at a time. The secret is to know how to be efficient and focus your time well.

As a former trained detective and auditor, I’ve had systems ingrained into my work ethic for decades. But here’s the thing, it’s so very easy to become a slave to the ‘to-do’ list.

Whilst it’s great to capture everything you need to do. But if you become overwhelmed with everything on the list, that to-do list can be the single source that constantly activates your anxiety. This is when your focus gets flushed down the toilet.

The other thing about me is I hate to faff about. I like to tick things off the list, that feels very satisfying. I’m a hard worker with a side dish of defiance — I don’t like to be held hostage to a list of things that I must do.

Where possible, I batch specific processes (especially admin) that can be rinsed and repeated.

What is the cost of not walking away from your to-do list?

How many times have you caught yourself pushing, over-committing yourself and then forcing yourself to achieve?

There will come a time when you will feel safe enough to pause, even though your to-do list isn’t finished. I promise, but it does take a little effort on your part in order to break the habit that you need to do it all — today.

Dr Mehmet Yildiz commented on the blog - "Thank you for this inspiring and educative piece. I liked your powerful questions that prompts our minds for better responses from the higher self."

What To Do When It's All Too Hard

We've all experienced the reality check of a hard or difficult moment. We're familiar with the bitch slap sensation. You wouldn't be human if you haven't experienced this.

When hard shows up in your life, it can feel and look like overwhelm, stuck or lost. You find yourself feeling reactive. There's very little capacity to thrive in this situation. 

Here's eight ways to respond when the survival reaction shows up!

Happy listening!